The Oakland Education Week in Review: 1/20-1/26

Last week, the EB Times endorsements (Childress and Cole), the launching of the Literacy for All campaign, and how you can help, funky business on another school board, a look at OUSD enrollment, the housing crisis, OUSD kids getting an HBO spotlight, some families you can help out, an argument for the statewide bond, all that and much more, please read, share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

Resources:

How You Can Help: 

Oakland:

  • Editorial: Elect Childress, Cole to Alameda County education board
    • If you care about preserving charter school options in Alameda County, the March 3 elections of two trustees to the county Board of Education are important.
  • Oakland’s Literacy Crisis, the New Literacy for All Coalition, and How You can Help
    • Oakland has a literacy crisis and it is most acute in the in the Black and Brown communities.  Only 18.6% of Black students in OUSD are reading on grade level, and 23.8% of Latinx students are, overall less than half of all Oakland students are proficient readers.  In the same district where less than 1 in 5 Black children can read, almost 3 in 4, 72.5%, of White children are meeting or exceeding standards. And that gap has only grown over the last 5 years.
  • Was East Bay school trustee passed over as president because she’s black?
    • Two Antioch school trustees are accusing their board colleagues of being “biased and unfair” by declining to appoint one of them, who is black, as board president — for a second time.
  • Integrated Schools Podcast Listening Group
    • Are you a parent with kids in Oakland public schools, concerned about educational justice, and want to be part of building equity? Does your kid attend an integrating school and you’re wondering if you’re showing up in the most responsible way for the whole school community? Were you saddened to watch the school merger conversations play out with a lack of nuance and deeper reflection? Don’t go it alone! Come on out for our first-ever Integrated Schools Podcast Listening Group meeting, during which we’ll discuss Episode 12 of the Integrated Schools Podcast:  
  • New HBO Documentary Follows Oakland Kids Preparing For MLK Oratorical Fest
    • A new HBO documentary will follow the monthslong efforts of Oakland children preparing for the annual MLK Oratorical Festival, where students honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through passionate speech and poems.
  • OUSD Enrollment Rates Overtime 
    • who is going to OUSD schools over time, and who isn’t — a look at the enrollment trends
  • Rents jump in Oakland, drop in San Francisco
    • Rents rose in Oakland for all apartment types in 2019. Studios were 3.3 percent more in 2019 at about $2,839, one-bedroom units were .7 percent more at about $3,308 and two-bedroom units were 6 percent more at roughly $4,338.
  • Oakland: Native Americans welcome Newest Americans at Special Citizenship Ceremony
    • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services section chief Joseph Hamilton, left, gives the oath of allegiance while swearing in new U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony held at Oakland City Hall in Oakland,

California:

  • California braces for slowdown: What state budget, new regulations could mean
    • Lenny Mendonca is chief economic and business adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz. Mendonca, an economist and former chair of the Bay Area Council, discussed the jobs and economy aspects of the governor’s proposed $222 billion state budget for 2020-21. The Legislature has until June 15 to approve a budget; typically that comes only after months of negotiation. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
  • California governor joins those wanting to hold school districts more accountable for spending
    • In an audit last fall of three districts’ spending, State Auditor Elaine Howle called on the State Board of Education and the Legislature to hold districts more accountable for how they spend money they receive from the Local Control Funding Formula.
  • California moves closer to eliminating, replacing reading instruction test that has blocked thousands from teaching credential
    • The California reading instruction test is a major hurdle for many aspiring teachers across the state. So much so that about one-third who take the test fail the first time, according to state data of the five-year period between 2012 and 2017. The poor performance is prompting action by the state: The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is assembling a panel to recommend alternatives to the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment, or RICA, while state legislators are considering a bill that would replace it. 
  • Why are California’s mayors lining up to endorse Mike Bloomberg?
    • There’s nothing surprising about a billionaire winning the support of the mayor of San Francisco, a city flush with tech wealth and new money. But when the billionaire is Mike Bloomberg – and the endorsement is the latest from a string of California mayors he mentored and supported – the vow of support raises some eyebrows.
  • Ogo Okoye-Johnson | Our Children and Education Equity
    • As we welcome the year 2020, it is important to reflect on the state of education in our community. Ensuring that all our children are provided the necessary competencies to be successful should be our priority. Performance scores, like any data, are meaningless unless the scores are analyzed and guide intentional decision-making and actions that lead to improved outcomes. 
  • California’s big educational dilemma
    • California’s largest, most important — and perhaps most troubled — governmental program is the education of nearly 6 million elementary, middle and high school students.
  • Editorial: Yes on California Prop. 13
    • The only statewide measure on the March 3 primary is a $15 billion bond to build and repair schools, from kindergarten through its public colleges and universities.

Other Stories:

  • The number of Flint’s students with special needs has increased by 56% since the water crisis, according to report
    • As the new school year starts, Flint’s public schools face a daunting challenge. According to a new report published by Education Week on Monday, this year at least 1 in 5 students in Flint’s public schools are eligible for special education. 
  • The Necessity of the Indian Child Welfare Act
    • Congress today has substantial and sweeping powers over Native nations and Native people, including the authority to abolish tribes and tribal reservations, and to expand or restrict tribal authority. These powers come from a series of Supreme Court decisions in the late 1800s and early 1900s that were based on racist views about American Indians—that Congress needed virtually unlimited authority over American Indian affairs because Natives were not equipped to govern themselves. The Court reasoned that Natives’ “weakness and helplessness” gave the federal government “broad domain” over them; later cases pointed to Natives’ “condition of tutelage or dependency.” Those decisions gave Congress more power when it comes to Native affairs than it has when it comes to taxing or spending or regulating interstate commerce.
  • Philadelphia Mayor Warns Mummers to End Blackface or Risk Parade
    • Mayor Jim Kenney told leaders of the Mummers that their centuries-old tradition could lose the city’s support if they did not better police participants.
  • My friend is dead, but don’t call her a hero
    • Is there anything more insufferable than a white person trying not to be racist? You know the type–she’s so well-intentioned, but also inevitably a little annoying, checking and re-checking every one of her instincts and assumptions, turning apologies into events, reading all the right books, but shying away from creating real relationships with people of color for fear that she’ll screw it up. You might even be the type. I know I have been at different moments. Which is part of what made Courtney Everts Mykytyn, one of the nation’s most effective white, anti-racist activists, so important. 

Resources:

  • High Schools that Oakland Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Data
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  The new school quality data was released by the state recently, and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and you can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
  • Elementary Schools that Black Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Data
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  The new school quality data was released by the state recently, and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and you can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
  • Navigating OUSD Middle School Enrollment
    • What do GreatSchools.org scores and school tours really tell you? How is academic and high school readiness measured at a school site? How can you make a great choice for your child and be a force for equity in Oakland?
  • Middle Schools that Black Families Should Consider Based on the Latest Data
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  The new school quality data was released by the state recently, and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and you can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.

How You Can Help: 

  • Honoring Najiyya Al-Khalifah
    • Najiyya Al-Khalifah, 10th-grade student at Lighthouse Community Charter High School, passed away suddenly on Sunday, January 19. Najiyya was a good friend to many students on campus, spoke her truth at all times,  had a joyful heart, and brought laughter and excitement whenever she entered a room. Please offer your love, condolences, and support to her family who have been a part of the Lighthouse Community for the past seven years.  Donations of any size are appreciated.
  • Support the Williams Family
    • On January 17,  Miesha Singleton was struck and killed by a reckless driver. She was crossing the street to go inside her daughter’s school. This senseless tragedy has left seven kids without their mother and a family without their rock. Please give what you can to support the children during this terrible time.
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